Exploring Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome with David Eick and Luke Pasqualino

5 years ago by Reg Seeton

The first two episodes of Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome can now be seen on Macinima Prime

Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome executive producer David Eick and series star Luke Pasqualino discuss the story of the new Battlestar Galactica prequel and the character of William Adama.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome takes place in the midst of the first Cylon war. As the battle between humans and their creation, the sentient robotic Cylons, rages across the 12 colonial worlds, gifted fighter pilot, William Adama, played by Luke Pasqualino, finds himself assigned to one of the most powerful battlestars in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica.

Full of ambition and hungry for action, the young Adama quickly finds himself at odds with his co-pilot, the battle-weary officer Coker, played by Ben Cotton of last year’s Alcatraz. With only 47 days left in his tour of duty, Coker desires an end to battle as much as Adama craves its onset.

With the first two episodes of Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome now on Machinima Prime, The Deadbolt caught up with Battlstar Galactica and caprica co-creator David Eick and series star Luke Pasqualino to learn more about the latest in the Galactica franchise.

Actor Luke Pasqualino plays a young William Adama in Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome

THE DEADBOLT: David, between Battlestar and Caprica, what did you learn from an accessible storytelling standpoint that you were applying in Blood & Chrome?

DAVID EICK: That’s a wonderful question. This was a story that came from a very personal place for me and it was really about exploring the root [of] what made Adama tick. This would be the Cylons and how that was informed by his love relationships, his understanding of the potential for betrayal despite love and the importance of a male figure in his life who he could depend on even above and beyond his own blood relations.

Beyond that, I also felt that there was an obligation if we were going to reintroduce Battlestar into the public that we tell stories that felt accessible. That we had done a tremendously thorough job of defining an elaborate and confluent mythology and that mythology would always stand intact. It would always be the subject of debate and they had an argument about “what is Starbuck?” and all those kinds of questions. But this would be something that would function on a different level.

THE DEADBOLT: How did you get there creatively?

EICK: I wasn’t able to write the script because I was obligated to a couple other projects and I had this story that I wanted to tell. I was so fortunate that I was able to go to Battlestar alumni who had done the kind of stories in Battlestar Galactica that evoke exactly what I was hoping Blood & Chrome would achieve – hard hitting, mission oriented, accessible stories that had depth and emotion and would be unusual in that it would extend into darker places and more human places than science fiction normally goes, which is always the hallmark of Battlestar.

But it would [be] more on the side of missions and objectives that bend mythology. And so Michael Taylor and David Weddle and Bradley Thompson were at hand. God bless them, together we were able to break the story in detail. And then Michael Taylor wrote a gorgeous script that stunned everyone and got this thing green-lit. That’s really the tale of how it all came together.

But the emphasis has always been on for fans of Battlestar episodes like “Ties That Bind” and “Act of Contrition”. These were hallmarks of great battles or episodes that if you’ve never seen an episode of the show before were still wonderfully thrilling and engaging. “Hand of God” was another big reference point for us which I think was Episode 10 of the first season.

THE DEADBOLT: Luke, how did you approach William Adama to really understand who he is in this time period as compared to what we saw later? Was that easy for you since he was already established?

LUKE PASQUALINO: I think to try and establish William Adama as an early 20-year-old when he’s already been established in his 40s – 50s as Edward James Olmos portrayed him, and to see him now as the kid. Being 22 myself, especially when you’re going into something new like the flight school that he attended, can be quite a difficult time for a young man.

But I think my main goal was to not let anything that Edward James Olmos did influence my interpretation of the material. I wanted to go in there with a fresh head and I didn’t know too much about the franchise before I got the role. So, I did my research and knew Edward James Olmos and his character.

David Eick gave me some great homework, which was to watch both seasons of Caprica, which I did. I thought just to take this on with only the Caprica theme in mind was key for me as an actor to try and get across the point. And obviously you know that the producers like Michael Taylor, David, Jonas, my co-star Ben Cotton, all of us playing together on our little team helped us get the message across to bring out the valuable points in the script.

THE DEADBOLT: So, it was somewhat of a challenge?

PASQUALINO: Yes. I mean, it was tough. I did feel quite pressure doing an American accent. That was a big factor, too. But to try and get as much of that out of your head—the technical aspects out of your head—as much as possible and just really trying to kind of connect with the material as much as possible was key for the final product.

Do yourself a favor and check out first two episodes of Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome on Machinima Prime.

What do you think?

Reg Seeton created The Deadbolt in 2005 after working for the pioneering movie news website, Coming Attractions. Reg has over 15 years experience as a top online entertainment journalist and interviewer, has worked with several award winning actors, musicians and writers, and has managed entertainment networks in New York and Los Angeles. And he's done it all with one eye!

Jake18

I’m still bummed about Caprica leaving but glad they followed through with this one. With all of the reality BS on TV these days, we need shows that make us think. I hope this goes to TV and doesn’t just stay on the web.